Burden of care on female caregivers and its relation to psychiatric morbidity
Burden of care on female caregivers and its relation to psychiatric morbidity
Mohammed Elmahdi, Foad Kamel, Ali Esmael, Mohammed Lotfi, Ahmad Kamel and Ayman Elhosini
Middle East Current Psychiatry 2011, 18:65–71
Background[عدل]
Recently, there have been increasing numbers of caregivers who provide care to their chronically ill family members. Care can represent a heavy burden and may put caregivers, who are mostly women (mother or wife), under a high level of stress. Culturally, such caregivers are expected to cope and not to complain.
Aim[عدل]
To evaluate and compare the burden (objective and subjective) on female caregivers (mother or wife) who provide full-time care to family members who are suffering from either psychiatric or physical disorder.
Materials and methods[عدل]
This study included 300 female caregivers (wife or mother) with 150 caring for patients suffering from a psychiatric illness and 150 looking after individuals suffering from a chronic physical illness. No male caregivers were included as culturally men are expected to be the breadwinners and if they have to provide care, this is likely to be as part time as most of their time would be dedicated for working outside home. This could provide men with an alternative time for ventilation or an outlet, which may bias the study results. Samples for the study were taken from the attendees of the outpatient clinics, University Hospital, Al-Azhar Faculty of Medicine, New Damietta, in the period 1 June 2007 to 31 May 2008. An approval was obtained from the ethics and scientific committee and informed consent was obtained from the individuals. All caregivers were assessed as follows: the Semistructured Clinical Interview using the diagnostic criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical manual IV Text Revised (American Psychiatric Association), the Caregiver Strain Index, and Zarit Burden Interview (all these were translated, validated, culturally compatible, and doctor rated).
Results[عدل]
The total sample included 300 female caregivers divided into two groups: the first group included 150 care providers of patients with psychiatric disorders, including 121 (80.7%) mothers and 29 (19.3%) wives, whereas the second group consisted of 150 female caregivers of individuals with chronic physical illness individuals, including 19 (12.7%) mothers and 131 (87.3%) wives. There was a significant difference between both groups with regard to distribution of nature of the relationship of female caregivers with the care recipients (mother or wife), their age, residence, and educational level. No significant difference regarding their job (the majority in both groups were unemployed) was observed. The objective burden was the highest in cases of poststroke disabilities, schizophrenia, chronic renal failure, chronic liver cell failure, and in those with bipolar disorder ( < 0.001). Similar distribution was observed in the subjective burden ( < 0.001). Caregivers suffered major depression in 102 cases (34.0%) and generalized anxiety disorders in 67 cases (22.3%). There was a statistically significant difference between mothers and wives regarding subjective burden and distribution of psychiatric disorders.
Conclusion[عدل]
The study results may indicate that the burden (objective and subjective) of caregivers and the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in caregivers depend on the impact of the disease on the functional level of the patient. The level of subjective burden and prevalence of psychiatric disorders are higher in wives compared with mothers, which may be attributed to the difference in their appreciation of the caregiving situation and in their appreciation of their responsibility toward the individual needing care.
Keywords[عدل]
burden, caregivers, psychiatric morbidity
